4th Girls & Panzer das Finale Film Opens at #4 – News

The live-action film of Yumi Tamura‘s Don’t Call It Mystery (Mystery to Iu Nakare or Do not say mystery) manga stayed at #1 in its fourth week. The film sold 221,000 tickets for 310,869,320 yen (about US$2.08 million) from Friday to Sunday. Including Monday’s Japanese holiday (Sports Day) earnings, the film has sold a total of 2.55 million tickets for a cumulative total of 3,295,604,870 yen (about US$22.13 million).

The film centers on the manga’s “Hiroshima Arc,” which appears in the manga’s second to fourth volumes. The “Hiroshima Arc” begins when Kunō travels to Hiroshima, and gets involved in a fight for the Kariatsumari family’s inheritance.

The film opened on September 15, and sold 609,600 tickets to earn 850,483,760 yen (about US$5.71 million) in its first three days, ranking #1 in its opening weekend. Masaki Suda reprised his role as protagonist Totonō Kunō from the manga’s live-action series.

Hiroaki Matsuyama, Tomoko Aizawa, and Ken Arai all return from the series as director, scriptwriter, and music composer, respectively.

The manga follows mystery-solving college student Totonō Kunō. At the beginning of the story, the police bring him in for questioning on suspicion of the murder of his classmate.

The live-action film of Kaiji Kawaguchi‘s The Silent Service manga dropped from #2 to #3 in its second week. The film sold 135,000 tickets for 192,456,350 yen (about US$1.29 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total of 630,000 tickets for a cumulative total of 767,430,760 yen (about US$5.15 million).

The film opened in Japan on September 29, and sold 274,000 tickets for 370,136,800 yen (about US$2.46 million) in its first three days. Takao Osawa and Shinzō Matsuhashi produced the live-action film, Kōhei Yoshino directed the film, and Hikaru Takai wrote the script. B’z, with singer Ado as vocalist, are contributing the film’s theme song “Dignity.”

In the story, Shiro Kaieda is appointed the captain of Japan’s first nuclear submarine, jointly built by Japan and the United States in top secret. However, he and his 76 crew members go rogue in this story that delves into themes of nuclear war, international politics, and world peace.

Kawaguchi serialized the manga in Kodansha‘s Morning magazine from 1988 to 1996. The manga already inspired a television anime special from Sunrise in 1996, followed by Sunrise‘s two-part original video anime from 1997 to 1998. Central Park Media offered the anime on videotape and later DVD.

The fourth film in the six-part Girls und Panzer das Finale film series ranked at #4 in its opening weekend. The film has earned 212,061,300 yen (about US$1.42 million).

The film opened in Japan on October 6. The fourth film continues with Ooarai’s battle with Continuation (Jaktkosota) High School, after the loss of important teammates at the onset of the match in the third film. The film also shows the match between two strong schools, Kuromorimine and St. Gloriana, with Kuromorimine headed up by Maho’s successor Erika, and St. Gloriana’s commander Darjeeling in her last match.

The first Girls und Panzer das Finale film opened in Japan in 59 theaters in December 2017. The film features new characters from BC Freedom High School as they engage in a winter battle.

The second film opened in Japan in June 2019. The film depicts the finale of the battle between Ooarai Girls Academy and BC Freedom High School, and also shows the battles for Kuromorimine Girls Academy, Pravda Girls High School, and other schools.

The third film opened in Japanese theaters in March 2021. The film features six more schools competing on three additional battlegrounds.

Eiga Precure All Stars F, the 20th anniversary film in the Precure All Stars crossover anime film series, dropped from #3 to #6 in its fourth week. The film earned 83,113,380 yen (about US$558,276) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total of 979,000 tickets to earn a cumulative total of 1,141,188,090 yen (about US$7.66 million).

Eiga Precure All Stars F opened on September 15, and features all 77 Precure magical girls, from the franchise‘s first installment in Futari wa Pretty Cure, to the latest ongoing installment Soaring Sky! Precure (Hirogaru Sky! Precure).

The film sold about 357,000 tickets to earn 437,456,060 yen (about US$2.93 million) at the Japanese box office in its opening three-day weekend. This is the highest opening weekend box office for the Precure franchise.

Maaya Sakamoto and Atsumi Tanezaki play characters that were newly created for the film. Sakamoto plays Cure Supreme/Prim, while Tanezaki plays Pūka.

The last time that the film series gathered characters from the entire franchise‘s history was 2018’s Hugtto! Precure Futari wa Precure All Stars Memories.

A new Precure film will open in 2024.

The live-action Gran Turismo film, adapted from the PlayStation video game series, dropped off the top 10 in its fourth weekend. The City Hunter franchise‘s new anime film City Hunter The Movie: Angel Dust (Gekijо̄ban City Hunter: Tenshi no Namida) also dropped off the top 10 in its fifth weekend, and Hayao Miyazaki‘s latest feature film The Boy and the Heron (Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka, or literally How Do You Live?) dropped off the top 10 in its 13th weekend.

Studio Trigger‘s re-screening of Gurren Lagann the Movie – The Lights in the Sky Are Stars, the second of two compilation films of Gainax‘s Gurren Lagann anime, dropped off the mini-theater ranking in its third weekend.

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2, link 3), comScore via KOFIC